The Husson Eagles softball team extended their win streak to 20 games on Saturday afternoon, sweeping past Cazenovia College in the best of three North Atlantic Conference Championship series by scores of 7-6 and 8-0 by mercy in five innings at Veterans Field in Cazenovia, New York. The wins send Husson to next weeks NCAA Division III Regional Tournament, their third straight trip to the Regionals.
Game 1- Husson took an early 2-0 lead on a Kenzie Dore RBI single in the top of the first inning, and then an unearned run on an error in the third. Cazenovia tied it 2-2 in the bottom half of the third when Lauren Kelleher and Caitlin Kelleher both hit RBI singles. The Eagles regained the lead at 5-2 in the fourth inning on a Katie Raymond RBI double, an error that scored Raymond unearned, and a Sydney Ames RBI groundout. The Wildcats responded right away in the bottom half again when Caila Benning had an RBI sacrifice fly, and Lauren Kelleher knocked in her second run of the day with a double to cut it to 5-4. Husson pushed it back to three runs on a Jen Jones RBI groundout in the fifth, and an RBI single by Ames in the sixth. Benning cut it to 7-5 with an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth. Cazenovia threatened in their last at bat in the bottom of the seventh, getting the first two batters on base and got within one on a Fiona Hunt RBI hit. They would have have tying run and winning run in scoring position with one out, but Jones in the circle got a strikeout and a pop out to shortstop to end it. Dore, Ames, and Katie Windsor had two hits each for Husson, and Jones (12-0) went the complete game for the win allowing six runs on 13 hits with 11 strikeouts. Lauren Kelleher had three hits and Caitlin Kelleher and Hunt had two each for the Wildcats. Lauren Kelleher (8-3) also took the pitching loss allowing seven runs (three earned) on nine hits in 6.0 innings.
Game 2- Playing as the home team, Husson got three hits from Jones and two each from Ames, Dore, Olivia McCarty, and Madelyn Fowler to finish the sweep and series with the mercy rule shortened victory. Dore had a solo homerun and Fowler a three-run shot, and Ames ended it in the fifth with an RBI single that scored Raymond. Ames (13-1) only allowed three hits in the 5.0 innings in the circle. Benning had two of those hits in the loss for Cazenovia, and Serafina French (7-2) took the defeat in the circle. The Wildcats end their season at 19-7 having won the NAC West Division Title.
Husson (27-1) will now await their location, time, and opponent for the double elimination NCAA Regionals. That announcement will come on Monday at 1 p.m. Husson University and O’Keefe Field in Bangor is one of the regional sites that will host six teams. The Eagles previously won the NAC Championship in 2018 and 2019, before the 2020 season was shut down in mid-March after 12 games due to COVID-19.
Game 1 BOX
HUS 1 0 1 3 1 1 0- 7 10 2
CAZ 0 0 2 2 0 1 1- 6 13 4
Winning pitcher- Jones (12-0)
Losing pitcher- Lauren Kelleher (8-3)
Left on base- Husson 6, Cazenovia 9
Game 2 BOX
CAZ 0 0 0 0 0- 0 3 2
HUS 1 0 4 0 3- 8 13 1
Winning pitcher- Ames (13-1)
Losing pitcher- French (7-2)
Left on base- Cazenovia 4, Husson 5
